Twelve Days of Christmas
by FaithinBones
Summary: This story is for the Bonesology 2018 Christmas/Holiday Fanfiction challenge.
1. Chapter 1

(After season 12)

This story is for the Bonesology 2018 Christmas/Holiday Fanfic challenge. It consists of twelve chapters that are drabbles which will be posted every day for the next twelve days. There is a theme that runs through the twelve chapters, but I will not reveal it until chapter 12. Most of you will guess it right away. Thanks.

I don't own Bones.

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"So what are we having for dinner, Hodgins? Turkey? Ham?" Booth clapped his hands together and smiled at his host. "I'll help you carve the turkey if you want me to."

Waiting for Brennan to close the door behind her and Christine, Hodgins moved his wheelchair out of the way and allowed everyone to enter the living room. "Nope, Angela's Dad is here for the holidays and he brought a cooler with him. He went hunting before he came and we're having what was in the cooler."

Suspicious, Brennan removed her coat and handed it to Angela. "What exactly did he hunt?" She was a vegetarian and didn't eat meat. Her child was an omnivore, but Christine was a fussy eater when it came to proteins and she would not force her daughter to eat rabbit or squirrel meat if she didn't want to eat it.

"Oh, he brought partridge." Hodgins pointed at the kitchen and rolled towards it. "Don't worry, Dr. B we have a lot of vegetable dishes and a couple of fruit ones plus two kinds of salad. No one has to eat the partridge if they don't want to."

Overhearing the conversation, Billy left the kitchen and entered the living room. "Ma'am, I know partridge isn't your traditional meat for Christmas, but a partridge is a game bird. It's better than turkey and if you give it a try, you might like it."

Booth handed Angela his coat as well as Christine's and turned to face Angela's father. "Bones is a vegetarian, but me and Christine will try it."

"Good, never turn down the opportunity to try new things." Billy went back into the kitchen with Hodgins following behind him.

Shrugging his shoulders, Booth smiled at his wife. "How bad can it be?"

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The dinner was served and Booth found a piece of partridge on his plate surrounded by sliced poached pears. There was also a small mound of sweet potatoes and rice dressing. He liked what was on the plate and so did Christine.

Aubrey, who had arrived a little late to the dinner, raved over the partridge and asked for the recipe which Billy was more than happy to pass on to him.

All in all, it was a successful Christmas dinner.

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These chapters are going to be drabbles. Let me know what you think of them. Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

(After season 12)

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Ooooooooooooooo

"Columbidae Streptopelia . . . they're such a beautiful bird." Staring at the birds in the cage, Hodgins rolled his wheelchair closer to get a better look. "These birds were considered sacred to the Greek Goddess, Demeter. They represent devoted love."

Growing impatient, Booth moved away from the bird section of the pet shop over to the aquariums. "We're here to buy fish for Michael Vincent for his Christmas present. Quit mooning over a couple of birds. We need to buy the fish and the tank, get them home and set up before he gets home from school. We still need to stop by the dry cleaners and take Bones' phone into the phone store to be replaced. By the way you should be paying for that. You're the one who knocked it off the examination table into the soup body. Bones tried to clean it, but the damn thing is broke or something." He shuddered when he thought about the sight of Brennan trying to clean out the liquid body from the inside of the phone.

"Alright, I'll pay for it. I never said I wouldn't." With a wistful glance back at the birds, he joined Booth over at the aquariums and began to pick out the fish he thought his son might like to keep. "Thanks for helping me with this. I don't think I could set up the new aquarium on my own."

"Not a problem." Booth motioned for a sales clerk to come over and help them. "Just make sure you choose a big enough aquarium. Bones hates aquariums and says that fish are usually cramped in small tanks. If you don't want her lecturing you about animal cruelty, I advise you to think about the size. I was going to buy one for Christine for her birthday last year, but Bones raised such a fuss I didn't think it was worth it."

A large tank was what he had intended and he knew exactly what size he needed. "That's why you're here. I already planned to buy a big tank . . . I think that will do nicely." Hodgins pointed at a tank and smiled. "If you think you can carry it into the house."

"I have a dolly in the truck, Bug Boy. I value my back." Booth was proud of his dolly and used it whenever he needed to move heavy objects. Brennan had given it to him on his 40th birthday and he'd appreciated the thoughtfulness of the gift.

His attention drawn back to the birds, Hodgins rubbed his chin. "I have a really large bird cage in the garage that I'm not using anymore. I used to own a parakeet that I bought from an idiot classmate at college that didn't know how to take care of her. She lived to be eleven years old. That's a pretty long life for a Budgerigar. I think those doves would think it was pretty roomy."

Glancing at his watch, Booth shook his head. "If you want them, buy them. You're wasting time. I think we'll have to skip the cleaners and just go see about the phone and then go set up the aquarium."

"Okay, I get it." Motioning towards the doves, Hodgins told the clerk he wanted them too. If anyone asked he would tell them that they were a Christmas present for himself. After all, he deserved it. He was married to the most wonderful person ever. Angela was the love of his life and he wanted to show her that he knew he was blessed by buying the two turtle doves. Devoted love indeed.

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	3. Chapter 3

(After season 12)

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Ooooooooooooooooo

In a hurry to find out the test results on the bedsheets wrapped around the victim who'd been found the day before at Meridian Hill Park, Aubrey entered Hodgins' Ookey room and found him feeding a snake in the corner of the room. "Hey Hodgins, I was in the neighborhood and I thought I'd drop in and see if you had the results back from the tests on the sheets yet."

Surprised to see the agent, Hodgins turned his wheelchair to face him. "I just sent my report about fifteen minutes ago."

Quickly retrieving his phone from his jacket pocket he found he had three emails waiting for him. Flipping the switch on the side of his phone, he shook his head. "Sorry, I had my phone off. I was in a meeting with Booth this morning and I forgot to turn it back on."

"No problem." Hodgins wheeled over to his desk near his computer, grabbed a basket and held it out for the agent to see. "Want some eggs? Fresh picked this morning."

"Wow, where did you get fresh eggs?" Aubrey moved closer to the basket and peered inside. "How many can I have?" With dreams of omelets and fried egg sandwiches racing through his mind, the Agent hoped he could have at least four or five.

Amused, Hodgins handed him the basket. "You can have them all as long as you return my basket . . . After that salmonella scare last year, I bought three French Hens and built them a nice roost in the backyard. They produce really nice eggs and I don't have to worry about how the eggs were handled or how old the eggs are."

"Nice and thank you. I will return the basket." Aubrey held the basket against his chest. "Um, could I buy eggs from you in the future?" It would be fantastic if he had a source for fresh eggs.

"No, but I'll give you some when I have extras." Michael Vincent picked the eggs every morning before he went to school and they usually had more eggs than they needed. "Actually the French Hens belong to my son. He liked them so much after I brought them home that he made them his pets . . . that boy makes me so proud. Did I tell you that he's talking about becoming a veterinarian? Yeah, he's a great kid."

Checking his watch, Aubrey pointed over his shoulder. "I need to get back to work. I have to put together the holiday work schedule for my division. I'm sure I'm going to make a lot of friends."

"Yeah, I'll bet." Chuckling Hodgins turned his wheelchair and moved over to his spider collection. "I'm glad I wasn't in charge of the Lab during Christmas. Cam can have that part of the job . . . Don't forget to bring back my basket."

"I won't." Hurrying out of the room, Aubrey strode towards the exit trying to decide what he would do with his eggs. _Fresh eggs. Wow!_

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Another little drabble.


	4. Chapter 4

(After Season 12)

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I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Forced to be at a crime scene on Christmas Eve sucked as far as Aubrey was concerned, but a lot of agents were off for the holiday and he had to fill in where he could. What made the situation more annoying was the fact that neither Booth nor Hodgins seemed to care about it at all. They were in high spirits and he wished he knew why. "I really was counting on not having a body to deal with today. I have things to do . . . I'm not ready for Christmas."

Making a few notes about the crime scene, Booth glanced at Aubrey then back at his notes. "You should do what I do. I put up the Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. I decorate my yard and that just leaves presents. Bones orders a lot of stuff online and I hit the Black Friday sales. I'm actually just waiting for tomorrow when all I have to do is cook dinner. I'm going to attend Midnight Mass tonight."

Hodgins supervised his assistant making sure the ground around the victim was thoroughly searched and all particulates were picked up and cataloged. "Angela and I do the same thing. We learned a long time ago that there isn't any time to waste after Thanksgiving since we never know if we'll be pulled into a case."

"Well aren't you two just perfect." Mumbling under his breath, the younger agent moved over to where the body lay and frowned. "You know if you squint he kind of looks like Santa Claus."

Unamused, Cam glared at the agent. "We investigated the death of Santa Claus a few years ago. I can assure this is not Santa Claus." She had hated that case and had felt strange dealing with the victim. It had been sad for everyone involved in the case knowing that someone who had lived for Christmas had been murdered just before that special day.

"Are you talking about the one killed by the other Santa Claus or the bank robber dressed up as Santa who was accidentally blown up?" Booth had hated both of those cases and he hoped this case was not going to be a repeat.

"I guess both now that I think about it." Cam shook her head. They seemed to have had more than their fair share of bizarre cases over the years.

Listening to Booth and Cam talk, Aubrey decided that he was appalled. "Are you kidding me? You've had to deal with two dead Santa Clauses? That's just . . . awful."

It was what it was. Hodgins made sure that all of the particulates were now packed properly. "Both of the cases were bad, but we did get justice for them."

At that moment, four blackbirds swooped into the clearing calling to each other and landed on a nearby tree.

"Did you know that blackbirds used to be called calling birds?" Hodgins turned his wheelchair to get a better look at the birds. "They were called colling birds with an "o" then later they were called calling birds with an "a".

Used to the lectures about nature from his friend, Booth glanced at the birds then back at the victim. "Well, at least we got here before they did and they can't eat him."

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My story is probably strange, but there is a theme. I promise.


	5. Chapter 5

(Season 11)

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I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Booth found that an antique store was a great place to look for jewelry for his wife. Brennan loved old fashioned necklaces made from Bakelite and antique stores were the best place to find them. Christmas was coming up and he needed to find her a present before the holiday arrived. "Hodgins, if you're not in a hurry, I need to make a stop before I get you home."

"What are you kidding me? When my car died on the highway I could get a tow truck to come pick up my car, but I couldn't climb into the cab of his truck to ride with him. If you hadn't come and got me, I'd still be sitting on the side of the road." Hodgins had been on the way home after a session with his therapist when his car had started to sputter then die. He considered himself lucky that Booth had been available.

Thinking ahead, Booth had left the house and the hockey game he had counted on watching on television and took Brennan's car to rescue his friend. It had been a bit of a struggle to get Hodgins into the car, but he had managed with just a slight twinge to his back. He had folded the wheelchair and managed to get it into the backseat, but he was sure he had scraped some of the paint from the door doing it and he'd had to move his seat forward, so he was a little too close to the steering wheel. "I need to pick up Bones' Christmas present and we're going to pass the shop on the way to your house."

"Fine, that's fine." Hodgins was finished with his Christmas shopping, but maybe he could find something special at the shop for Angela. She had been such a champ since he had been hurt. He had been such an ass when he'd found out he was paralyzed from the waist down and Angela had stuck by him during that time. It still amazed him that she had stayed.

Once they were at the shop, Hodgins talked Booth into helping him out of the car and into his wheelchair. That accomplished they entered the store and while Booth talked to the manager about the necklace he was buying, Hodgins decided to look at the display case of jewelry. Moving his chair slowly, he noticed a set of earrings that seemed to be the perfect present. The earrings were a white gold hoop holding five small white gold rings. When he asked to look at them, he heard the slight tinkling they made when they were moved and found the sound to be charming. "I'll take them."

Pleased with the sale, the shop owner boxed up the earrings as well as Booth's purchase. All in all, the manager was quite pleased. Business had been slow that afternoon and selling those two pieces of jewelry had made it worth being open. The earrings were antique and the fact that they cost $2,500 hadn't bothered the handicapped man at all. "I hope you two have a very Merry Christmas."

"Oh, I will that's for sure." Booth held up his present and grinned. "Merry Christmas."

His present safely on his lap, Hodgins wheeled over to the exit. "Hey, Booth did you know that gold is a symbol of love and compassion? That's why I bought these. Five golden rings . . . I think I love Angela five times more than I did when I married her."

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	6. Chapter 6

(Season 12)

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"Contrary to what you see in the movies, geese don't just eat anything. They eat grass, cabbage, cauliflower leaves, lettuce and . . . " Hodgins turned his wheelchair to face Aubrey. "They will eat leftover vegetables like cooked potatoes, carrots . . . stuff like that.' Turning he surveyed the geese walking around inside their large pen. "When you told Booth that the techs didn't find the bullet casing in the barn it made me think about what was in the area and how the killer could have got rid of the evidence without leaving the farm. Pointing at the geese, Hodgins laughed. "Six laying geese . . . Pat Miller took the casing, placed it inside a bucket of cooked vegetables he had ready for the geese and fed it to them. I'm sure which ever goose ate it didn't even notice."

"Or Miller could have buried it in a field or dumped it in that abandoned outhouse in the backyard or a hundred other places." Aubrey was skeptical. "Why focus on these geese?"

Moving closer to the pen, Hodgins motioned for his assistant to enter the area with her metal detector. "Check all the poop in the pen, Laura. If you don't find the casing run it through any leftover food you see and maybe their nests . . . Oh and be careful, geese can be aggressive and attack if they feel threatened."

"Oh goody." Laura opened the gate, stepped gingerly into the pen and started to look for geese feces while keeping track of where the geese were. She was sure that her husband was going to find this whole thing hilarious even if she didn't. Training under Dr. Hodgins had exposed to her to a lot of new disciplines including ornithology. She assumed by the time she was done training she was going to be a top-notch field tech.

Leaning against the fence, Aubrey watched as the tech moved her metal detector over various objects in the yard. "I still think we should be looking at the outhouse . . . Booth told me he had a case once where someone tried to hide a murder victim in an outhouse . . . I'll bet that was a stinky job."

Amused, Hodgins laughed. "I worked that case and there was a lot of poop to deal with, but we also found the murder weapon in the poop . . . If we don't find anything in the pen, we'll look there next . . . the victim was killed in the barn and we didn't find the casing there. This pen is located next to the barn. It was a quick way to get rid of the casing."

Not a farm lad, Aubrey wrinkled his nose as the wind shifted from the horse paddock next to the pen. "Sometimes my job, sucks. I hope Laura finds the casing. Having to deal with the outhouse is going to be bad."

"Everyone poops, Aubrey." Hodgins noticed Laura lean over and pick something up. "Did you find it Laura?"

Breaking off the partially dried feces surrounding the casing, Laura held it up for Hodgins and Aubrey to see. 'Got it." Glad that was done, she nimbly walked through the pen avoiding as much feces as possible. Once outside the pen, she handed the casing to Hodgins who was now wearing disposable gloves.

"Yep, bag it and put it with the rest of the evidence. Good job Laura."

"Yeah good job Laura." Relieved that the search was over, Aubrey waved at Booth who was talking to Brennan near the barn. "Hey Booth, we found it."

Closing the pen door, Laura sighed. "I was going to have goose for Christmas dinner, but I think I'll stick to ham this year."

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	7. Chapter 7

(After season 12)

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Oooooooooooooooo

As Booth approached the lake, he scanned the area to see where the victim's body had been placed, but all he saw was techs, deputies and Hodgins near the boat ramp. "Hey Hodgins, where's the body?"

Turning his wheelchair, the entomologist waved his hand at Booth. "Look out on the lake where the seven swans are swimming, the body is there. That boat heading that way is going to retrieve the body."

"How did someone find a body out there?" The swans were swimming roughly in the middle of the lake.

"That guy standing next to Sheriff's Deputy Patterson was fishing and he hooked the body." Hodgins felt sorry for the man. "He threw up in his boat when he realized it was a body. He brought his boat back to shore and called 911. Deputy Patterson was first on the scene. He had the man take him out there and he verified it was a body and called for help. They called us in because Patterson thinks its Bobby Richards, the boy that was reported missing from the Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach three days ago."

Disappointed to hear that, Booth knew that the man hunt for Bobby had been intense for the last three days. Everyone had hoped that the teenager would be found alive and well. "Agent Aubrey has interviewed everyone that Bobby worked with. It was just a part time after school job. He was working as an elf, taking pictures for the kids who sat on Santa's lap . . . Angela is still looking at all the film from all the cameras at the mall. I'm hoping she finds out who Bobby was with at the mall before he disappeared."

Agitated, the swans had moved to the other side of the lake to avoid the oncoming boat. "Yeah." Hodgins turned and watched as the boat arrived at the spot where the body was supposed to be and watched as they searched the area. One of the men in the boat slid into the water and in short order pulled the body near the boat and with the help of his companion, hauled the body in. "How many cases have we had around Christmas time over the years?"

"Does it matter?" Booth watched the boat start to come towards shore.

Turning back to face Booth, Hodgins cocked his head to the side and studied his friend. "They do to me. I have two children now and whenever we have a case around Christmas time, I think about how awful it is for the loved ones of the murder victim. Their family is going to have to go through the holidays knowing that they're never going to see their loved one again. Christmas, Hanukkah . . . it just seems to be that extra twist of the knife."

"Yeah, I don't know what I would do if anything happened to my kids or Bones and yeah, Christmas would just make it worse since it's our favorite holiday." Booth tried not to become too emotionally involved in his cases, but when it involved children, he found that hard to do. "We'll get Bobby justice. We have to."

"Yes we do."

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	8. Chapter 8

(After season 12)

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Oooooooooooooooooo

While Hodgins and his assistant collected particulates from the office, Booth interviewed the co-owner of 'Maids Anytime'. "So, you were the one who found Alex Cranston's body? What time was that?"

"I found him at eight this morning when I opened the office." Gladis Morningstar was still distraught and couldn't stop the tears from falling. "I said good-by to him last Saturday night about seven. We'd just finished the audit and Alex was going to call our lawyer before he left . . . I should have stayed. I should have stayed."

Jotting down a few notes, Booth waited for Gladis to calm down. "Ms. Morningstar . . . this audit that was done? I take it you found some problems."

"Yes, we have ten maids working for us and after we finished our audit, we realized that eight of our maids were milking us." Gladis dabbed at her eyes with her tissue. "They were billing us for hours not worked, three of them did housekeeping for First National Bank and apparently they were double billing the bank and stealing office supplies from them too. The bank manager called us with his suspicions last Wednesday. That's why the audit. We've never had this kind of trouble before. All of our maids are checked out before we hire them to make sure that their work record is impeccable. It's hard to believe that eight of our ten employees were actually committing fraud and poor Alex . . . his family will be devastated."

While Cam and Brennan examined the body, the intern working for Hodgins held up a necklace, the chain broken. "I found this under the desk, Dr. Hodgins."

Gasping, Gladis placed her hand over her mouth. "That belongs to Janet Price. She's been working for us for about a year . . . I . . . Do you think Janet killed Alex?" Gladis felt the tears start to fall again. "I didn't want to hire her, but Alex insisted."

"Was there something wrong with her work record?" Booth felt that Gladis was holding something back.

Dabbing at her eyes with her soggy tissue, Gladis sniffed. "She didn't have a work record. She's Alex's cousin . . . He wanted to help her and now . . . and now . . . I feel sick." Rushing from the room, Gladis raced to the bathroom down the hallway.

The small Christmas tree on Alex's desk was lying on its side and several of the little glass ornaments were broken. "I found some long red hair in the tree." Hodgins held up his tweezers to show his find. "Looks like there was a struggle, someone with long red hair fell on the tree then picked up the paper weight and hit our victim on the side of the head . . . the necklace was on the floor below the little tree." The intern handed Hodgins one of the broken ornaments and pointed out the bit of blood on the shard. "Well this looks like blood . . . I think this one will be a slam dunk, Booth."

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	9. Chapter 9

(After season 12)

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Ooooooooooooooooooo

The Belgium Attaché lay dead in the middle of the dance floor, the rest of the guests huddled together along the walls. No one seemed to have witnessed what had happened since the dance floor had been full at the time the attaché dropped dead. The owner of the nightclub had ordered his security team to close and lock the doors keeping his patrons inside until the police or the FBI had arrived.

Kneeling next to the body, Brennan moved the victim's coat aside and unbuttoned his vest. Once the shirt was unbuttoned, they could all see the wound. "It appears that he was stabbed in the heart. I'll need the body to be brought to the Lab."

Hodgins with the help of his assistant, Laura were moving slowly over the dance floor picking up anything that lay there. They weren't expecting to find the murder weapon, but all particulates told a story.

As Booth and Aubrey made their away around the room, they both kept getting the same advice, talk to the nine ladies on the other side of the room. They were all dancing with the victim before he died. "All nine ladies were dancing with the victim? How's that even possible?" Aubrey had seen a few players in his time, but nine dance partners?

Taking the advice of the other patrons, the FBI agents moved over to the other side of the room and confronted the ladies huddled together near the massive Christmas tree. "We've been told that you ladies were dancing with the victim before he died." Since no one responded, Booth snapped his notebook closed and glared at the woman standing directly in front of him. "Fine, you don't want to cooperate, we'll just take you all down to the Hoover and talk to you there. We can hold you for 24 hours without charges."

Appalled, the woman standing closest to the tree, squealed. "24 hours? I have to go to work tomorrow. You'll make me lose my job."

"That's not really my concern, Ma'am." Booth hated it when witnesses refused to cooperate. "All you have to do is talk to us, give us your name and phone number and we'll let you leave. Stand there acting dumb and I'll arrest you. You're choice."

Trembling, the young lady held up her right hand and pointed at her palm with her left index finger while eyeing the woman next to her. When Booth and Aubrey didn't react, she placed her hands on her hips. "Are you kidding me? Check Florence's hands."

Furious, the red headed woman named Florence, screamed, raised her right hand above her head and tried to slash down at the lady next to her. Reacting quickly, Booth caught Florence's arm and held it up while she screamed profanities.

Impressed, Aubrey grabbed the bloody gold star from her hand and stepped back while Booth cuffed her. "Very impressive, but not very nice. Stabbing someone in the heart with a Christmas star?"

"He was cheating on me!" The murderer screamed at the top of her lungs. "No one cheats on me!"

Watching the scene play out, Hodgins shook his head. "Wow, I think we all get the point."

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	10. Chapter 10

(After season 12)

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

"So, Booth and I were investigating the kidnapping of a Virginia State policeman." Aubrey bit into his burger, chewed and swallowed. "Man, I'm hungry . . . anyway we got a tip that the officer had been kidnapped by some biker gang called 'The Lords' and we tracked them down to a rundown house outside of Richmond." He took another bite and chewed it with enthusiasm.

Amused, Hodgins and Angela let their friend tell his story at his speed. There was time and there was nothing pressing for them back at the Lab.

Swallowing his bite of food, Aubrey wiped his lips with a napkin. "They make the best bacon cheeseburgers here. I think it's the thick bacon and the special sauce . . . Anyway, we took some backup with us, because you know . . . biker gang. When we got there, I took the back of the house with Peterson and Rigby and Booth took the front with Park and Rodrigue. We went in and at first, we didn't see anything except for some old lady watching television in the living room and she was filling out Christmas cards. It was weird, Booth showed her his ID and she didn't really react at all. She just kept filling out those cards like nothing was going on. Anyway, we spread out and searched the house. We didn't find anyone there, so we decided maybe we were too late and the gang had gone somewhere else. The old lady, Mrs. Gunderson waited for Booth to come back into the room and she pointed to the left. Well there was just a wall on the left side of the house, but Booth figured it out. She meant look next door."

"You mean you broke into the wrong house?" Angela thought that was an unusual error. Booth usually didn't make that kind of mistake.

"No, we had the right house. It's just that the biker gang used the abandoned clothing store next door as a club house. The old lady was the mother of the gang leader. Come to find out her son was taking most of her retirement money from her and she barely had enough to pay the utilities and buy food. She wanted us to do something about him and his gang." Aubrey dredged some fries through some garlic mayo and popped them in his mouth. Talking around the fries, he continued.

"Anyway, we went next door and like before I took the back of the building and Booth took the front. We broke in at the same time and it was like stirring a hornet's nest. We had Lords leaping at us from everywhere, but we took all ten of them down and rescued the State policeman. They had beat him up and were planning on killing him, so he was glad to see us."

Glad for a happy ending, Hodgins sipped some of his coffee and placed the cup down on the table. "So, his family is going to have a Merry Christmas."

"Yeah . . . Mrs. Gunderson gave Booth a fruit cake for getting rid of the pests next door." Aubrey had been a little jealous of the gift. "It was a big old cake too . . . Booth took it home with him. He said his kids love fruitcake."

Angela laughed. "What a liar. His kids hate fruitcake. He's the one that loves fruitcake. He just didn't want to share."

"Son of a bitch." Disgusted, Aubrey angrily dredged more fries through the garlic mayo. "He is such a food hog. He never wants to share." Angrily chewing on his fries, he reached over and snagged two onion rings from Hodgins' plate. "I noticed you didn't eat these. No need to let them go to waste."

Glancing at his wife, Hodgins gave her a wink, cut off a piece of Salisbury steak resting on his plate and before he popped it in his mouth, he commented. "Yeah, our Booth is one of a kind."

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	11. Chapter 11

(After season 12)

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Ooooooooooooooooo

"Oh my God, what's that caterwauling?" Aubrey turned around and spied eleven pipers piping and marching through the cemetery behind a large group of people leaving a graveside service.

Amused, Hodgins used his picker to grab a wad of chewing gum and place it in an evidence bag. "They're Scottish Bagpipers. Where have you been all your life? You see pipers in the big parades, at military funerals . . . it's almost required."

"I don't go to parades and I've never been to a military funeral. The only funerals I've ever been to was my mother's and Max's and there were no pipers." Aubrey watched the pipers stop in the parking lot and at that point they stopped playing. "Well, thank God for small favors."

Carefully examining the wound on the victim, Brennan determined that it was a bullet wound. "I've been to several military funerals and so has Booth. They usually have one piper piping in the distance after the ceremony. It's actually quite poignant."

"Poignant?" Uncertain about Brennan's musical taste, Aubrey shook his head. "Give me a guitar any day."

"It wouldn't have the same effect as a bagpipe being played in the distance, I can assure you." Brennan found the idea of a guitar being played at a military funeral to be ludicrous. "The sound is quite sad and lonely which is the appropriate reaction for the loss of a loved one. It's a funeral not a hootenanny."

A little insulted, Aubrey squinted his eyes at the anthropologist. "Tell you what, when I come over on Christmas Eve, I'll bring my guitar and I'll play you some music that's so sad it'll make you cry."

"Wow, just the right atmosphere for Christmas, Aubrey." Hodgins motioned for his assistant to chase a piece of paper that was rolling on the ground in the brisk wind. "Kids crying while opening presents is just the right family tableau that everyone is looking for."

"Pipe down there, Hodgins. I also know some really happy Christmas songs too." Pointing at a bloody tissue lying a few feet away, the Agent called out. "Laura, you might want to get that. Looks like blood."

Quickly capturing the paper, Laura placed it in an evidence bag. "Happy Christmas to me."

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.


	12. Chapter 12

(After Season 12)

Here is my final chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

He found Hodgins and Angela standing on the corner not too far from where he had parked his SUV. Waving at them, he worked his way through the crowd until he was standing next to them. "Okay, I'm here. Where's the body?" Scanning the crowd and the nearby alley, Aubrey hoped that the police were up to handling such a large crowd.

Before he could respond, Hodgins' attention was grabbed by a band heading towards them down the street. Pulling on Aubrey's jacket, he forced the agent to lean over so he could be heard. "There isn't a body, Aubrey."

"No body? Then why am I here?" It was getting harder to hear as the band grew closer.

"Angela and I wanted you to share our happy moment with us." Hodgins pointed at the band and spoke so loudly he was practically shouting. "Michael Vincent joined the band at his school last Spring and he's marching in the parade today. He wanted his family to see him, but Booth and Brennan volunteered at the soup kitchen today to hand out Christmas dinners for the homeless. Their kids are with Cam and Arastoo. We were hoping you'd want to see Michael Vincent play with us."

Aubrey hated parades because of the noise and because he hated amateur bands, but he couldn't exactly walk away and hurt Angela and Hodgins' feelings. Turning he watched the band get closer. "Tell me what instrument he plays."

Shouting at the top of his lungs, Hodgins pointed at his son as twelve drummers drew closer, beating their drums with great enthusiasm. "He's a drummer."

The drummers now abreast of them, Aubrey spotted Michael Vincent and waved vigorously. The boy was happy to see his parents and his Uncle Aubrey and grinned with delight. "Hey Michael Vincent." Aubrey held up his thumb and grinned at the boy. Once the band was past them, Aubrey turned towards his friends. "Hey, they're pretty good for kids."

Angela stepped closer and hooked her arm around his arm. "We're going to go to the Royal Diner after the parade and celebrate Michael Vincent's first parade. Want to come?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, Angela." His toes tapping to the next band's rendition of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas', Aubrey realized that parades weren't as bad as he thought they were.

 _On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me_

 _Twelve drummers drumming_

 _Eleven pipers piping_

 _Ten lords a leaping_

 _Nine ladies dancing_

 _Eight maids a milking_

 _Seven swans a swimming_

 _Six geese a laying_

 _Five golden rings_

 _Four calling birds_

 _Three French hens_

 _Two turtle doves and_

 _Partridge in a pear tree._

 _Oooooooooooooooooooooo_

 _I'm sure everyone figured it out, but my theme was the song 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'. Merry Christmas everyone. I hope everyone has a great year._


End file.
